A Mysterious Thing, Time
by harmionespast
Summary: Hermione Granger is tasked by Dumbledore to befriend Tom Riddle, but what if he had more than friendship on his mind?
1. Disclaimer

p style="text-align: center;"All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author of this story. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any previously copyrighted material. No copyright infringement is intended./p 


	2. Chapter 1

Hermione knocked on the door to Dumbledore's office. Her heart skipped a beat when she heard a, "come in," from inside the room. Gulping nervously, Hermione opened the door and stepped inside. The headmaster's office had bookshelves along the back wall, trinkets on the shelves, and vibrant red curtains hung upon the large floor-to-ceiling windows. Paintings of previous headmasters before him lined along the panelled walls, surrounding the current Headmaster. It wasn't often Hermione was summoned to such an intimidating room.

With the Time-Turner hung around her neck, as requested and her now curly hair pulled in a tamed side braid, she focused her chocolate brown eyes on the headmaster, Dumbledore.

"You wished to see me, Professor?" she asked, her voice unsteady from the nervousness, she could possibly be in trouble, be behind in class, or even worse, expelled.

Dumbledore glancing up from the papers on his desk, looking slightly above his half-moon spectacles at her.

"Ah, Miss Granger. There is something I'd like to show you. Afterwards, we can discuss the matter at hand." he said in a dream-like tone.

He ushered her towards a magical object she hadn't seen before. Though learned of in magical literature she once read. It was a wide and shallow dish made of metal, elaborately inlaid with precious stones, carrying powerful and complex enchantments. They are rare.

"What's this Miss Granger?" asked Dumbledore, knowing fully well she knew the answer.

Hermione didn't hesitate.

"It's a Pensive sir, a magical object that allows you to re-live a memory. They're rare due to them being afraid of reliving memories."

"Very good Miss Granger, today I want to show you a memory of someone. Someone very feared." Dumbledore began.

Hermione listened intently to everything Albus had to say.

"You-Know..." Hermione began before correcting herself. "Lord Voldemort."

Dumbledore nodded. "Yes, he was a boy once. A gifted wizard. But bad choices got in the way of a good future."

Hermione nodded.

"I wanted you to see a memory of Tom's. I've shown it to Harry, but I told him not to tell anyone" said Dumbledore.

"I understand, professor." Hermione replied.

Walking closer to the pensive, as the headmaster went to a cabinet where he stored memories. Scanning through the names, he found Tom's. Finding the right year and title id memory, he walked towards the Pensive.

"Are you ready, Ms. Granger?"

Hermione nodded.

"I pour a bit of this memory into the pensive, you dunk your head in and watch as the memory unfold." added Dumbledore.

With two, swift gestures. He unstoppered it, and poured a bit of memory into the pensive. Hermione took a deep breath before dunking her head in. The water went from clear to an image at the bottom.

There were two people in the room, there was a young 16-year-old boy her age. His back turned to who looked like a younger Professor Slughorn. After thinking everyone had left, he shut the door to his office. Locking it, he then turned to see Tom riddle starting at him.

"Oh, Tom my boy. You startled me." said Slughorn, breathing heavily for a few moments.

"Sorry Professor." replied Tom. "I had a question for you."

Horace smiled slightly.

"Ask away my dear boy."

"Well, I was in the library. Looking through the restricted section, when I found this dark way of retaining immortality."

Slughorn stayed silent. Waiting for tom to finish.

"Horcrux's sir, how many can you make?"

"Well, Tom." said Slughorn. "You can make as many as you please, but the more you make, the more you have less of your soul."

"So I could make seven?"

"Seven? But that's too much, you'd hardly have any of you left! Also, there is an unforgivable method of making them... You are speaking hypothetically, aren't you tom?" asked Slughorn.

Tom gave him a smile. "Of course Sir."

Hermione knew that he was lying. As the memory faded, Hermione lifted her head out of the water. Her face and some of her hair wet. Looking at Dumbledore, she asked.

"Horcruxes, what are they?"

"Horcruxes are items with a part of a person's soul inside. It helps them stay alive, even if the person is killed, their soul will remain in the object. Unless destroyed."

Hermione had a worried expression etched on her face.

"I assume he did make those...things..."

"Indeed, but Harry and I have destroyed two out of what I think maybe at least five or six." said Dumbledore. " I need you to befriend Tom any way possible, it is crucial to our mission. When you get close enough, take his memories of the Horcruxes and come back."

Hermione nodded. She pulled out her time turner and began to twist the time turner. Dumbledore turned around, not wanting to see her leave.

As she finished, she vanished.


End file.
